Opposition In Discourse: The Construction of Oppositional MeaningLesley Jeffries introduces a phenomenon which has not been given the attention it deserves - the contextual construction of oppositional meaning. These are opposites not recognisable as such out of context but that are clearly set up this way in the text concerned. The significance of oppositional meaning is well-known, and has been discussed by scholars for millennia, from Philosophy to Politics. But the main emphasis has always been on the conventional opposite: the opposite recognised by lexical semantics. Starting from socio-cultural viewpoints, moving to original research and then concluding with a new theoretical formulation, this book introduces and consolidates a significant new approach to the analysis of oppositional meaning. It closes with a discussion of the importance of constructed opposition in hegemonic practice and makes a case for the inclusion of opposition as a central tool of critical discourse analysis. It will be essential reading for researchers and graduates in stylistics, linguistics and language studies. |
Contents
What are opposites? | 1 |
How opposites are constructed in texts and what they mean | 28 |
Literary effects of constructed opposition | 54 |
The role of oppositionconstruction in discourse meanings | 78 |
The significance of opposition in language and texts | 109 |
Notes | 134 |
| 137 | |
| 141 | |
Other editions - View all
Opposition In Discourse: The Construction of Oppositional Meaning Lesley Jeffries Limited preview - 2014 |
Opposition In Discourse: The Construction of Oppositional Meaning Lesley Jeffries Limited preview - 2010 |
Opposition In Discourse: The Construction of Oppositional Meaning Lesley Jeffries Limited preview - 2011 |
Common terms and phrases
actual world antonyms appears argue Aristotle binary British categories of opposite cognitive complementary opposite conceptual constructed opposites construction of opposites context contrast conventional opposites converse created opposition creation of opposites Cruse Dan McIntyre Danish cartoons Davies deictic demonstrate discourse Duffy Dursley family eco-terrorism effect election explicit extract frame free speech gradable opposition human Ian McEwan ideas ideology image-schema implicature implied interpret Jeffries Jones kind of opposite language Larkin lexemes lexical lexical semantics linguistic logical McGuckian metaphor Mettinger Muslims mutually exclusive nature negation negative normally Note notion novels oppo opposite pair oppositional meaning parallel structures particular phenomenon Philip Larkin phrase poem poetry political possible potential question reader relationship semantic relation similar sition speakers Square of Opposition Stylistics syntactic talking in bed text world textual construction textual opposition tion tional opposites tive type of opposite uncon unconventional University of Huddersfield whale music words